Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean': 5 Features We Want From Google

Google is expected to launch the next version of Android’s operating system, dubbed “Jelly Bean,” at its annual developer’s conference on Wednesday. Photo: REUTERS

Google is expected to unveil the next version of Android's operating system, dubbed Jelly Bean, at its annual developer's conference, on Wednesday.

While Google has stayed quiet about the potential Android 4.1 update, it is likely to be released in the second-quarter of the year on Google's flagship smartphone, according to ZDnet.com.

It's difficult to get as excited about Android software updates as those of Apple's iOS, because manufacturers and carriers aren't clearing the new versions quick enough, and therefore many people are left with older versions of the software on their devices.

Nonetheless, here are five things we'd like to see from Jelly Bean.

Chrome: It's speedy, elegant and one of the best browsers out there, but it still hasn't become Android's default browser. We hope Google gets rid of Chrome Beta and replaces Android's current default browser with a full version of Chrome.

Google Voice Assistant: Voice recognition is currently the hottest feature on mobile devices, and with Google reportedly working on a new version of its voice assistant, which will rival Siri and Samsung's S voice, it would only make sense for Android's Jelly Bean to support this.

Clean Up Google Play: Currently the Google Play store is a mess -- full of junk apps and malware problems. The Android update should come with a clean-up, where only reliable apps show up in the top searches. We can also hope for better music and video content in the Google Play Store.

More Devices: With the backlog of Android updates, it would make sense for Google to roll out more phones and tablets that will support the new Jelly Bean update. Aside from the anticipated new tablet and phone, the Galaxy Nexus will likely be the first existing Android phone to get the update, and older devices will undergo long delays as seen with Android's Ice Cream Sandwich.

Timely Updates: Whatever the update might be, we hope they can be released in a timely manner on Android Phones and tablets. Ice Cream Sandwich was released over seven months ago, and still the majority of Android devices have not been updated.

Meanwhile, Google is expected to launch its first tablet on Wednesday, which is set to rival Amazon's Kindle. Last year, Google chairman Eric Schmidt revealed that the company was working on a tablet of the highest quality that would be released around the summer of 2012. The rumored tablet has been built by ASUS, and it is expected to have a 7-inch screen and is rumored to feature 1.3 GHz quad-core NVidia processor with 8GB of RAM and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera.

New ASUS tablet Launching in July

ASUS is also launching a new tablet this summer, independent of Google. The official U.S release date for the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 has finally been announced, and the Android tablet should arrive the week of July 16, starting around $499 for the 32GB version, according to the company.

ASUS unveiled its all-new powerful 700 series at the CES event in Las Vegas early in January. The new tablet blew fans away with its 1920×1200 HD resolution that beats most laptops and doubles the brightness of its predecessor, which comes with 1,280x800 pixels.The pixel density of the tablet is 224ppi, which is lower than that of Apple's new iPad, but higher than the new Retina display MacBook Pro.

ASUS has since changed the name of the tablet from ASUS Transformer Prime TF700 to ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700. The tablet is an improvement on the Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201, which was released in December. The Eee pad was criticized for its poor GPS performance, which ASUS said stemmed from a metallic unibody design that affects the performance of GPS when receiving signals from satellites. Most of the tablet's glitches have been addressed, changing its back-panel design to increase the performance of GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, it said.

The new model also comes with an upgraded 2-megapixel camera that can be used for HD video chat. The new model retains its predecessor's NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB of Ram; however, the processor has been clocked to a higher 1.6GHz.